hey guys:
thanks so much today was day 1 w/o a fever am im coughing less so that a plus.

i hope everyone else feels better also.

andrea, i'm glad you're feeling better. how are you doing ww-wise? are you doing core or flex? i saw your challenge idea and am interested in seeing if anyone does it.

melissa, how about coming to make our house holiday clean? it could use some tlc for sure.

rhonda, i'm hungry after reading about all your baking. your in-laws will be so happy. i am still in touch with my ex-in-laws, too. (aunts, cousins, etc...) it feels good to be in touch, doesn't it?

vickie, i forgot to answer your question earlier today. i shot well the first half last night then fatigue set in and my shooting was kaput. i still had fun, though. i know i have to have more than 18-20 pts on a day when i'm shooting. when i told curtis that last night, he said, "well, duh!!" guess that means he knew it all along.

Good Morning Chicks! I had a great night at the party but I'm feeling crummy this morning. Too bad because I really have a lot to do today.

Oh Melissa, the happiness in your voice gives me joy! I'm glad that you are enjoying your new home and all the changes you and Aaron have worked so hard on. It's terrific to see a post from you. Good luck getting that last paper done without too much anguish. How are things going for Aaron? I hope they got better for him and that he is being appreciated. I remember praying hard for him to get that job.

Sandra, I haven't made dream pies in forever. I'd spend 4-5 points for a good dessert. Jim won't eat coconut though. Are there any other good recipes? I'm so glad that you and Curtis decided to decorate and get into the spirit of the holidays. It makes me smile.

Rhonda, I hope you had a ball baking! I can't wait to start mine. Thanks for your good thoughts about Cindy. I haven't heard anything about her since Wednesday night. I haven't been able to catch up with anyone.

Andrea, I'm glad you're on the mend.

Hey...nothing from Kathy yesterday. That's unlike her.

Frouf, did you get the new Menorah?

Ok girlies. I'm going to go make a menu thread and then go look at the sale papers for the week. Have a great day!

We got home yesterday and I was pooped. Judd went up to the bar to watch the Cowboy game and they all tried to get me to go. I stuck to my guns and said NO WAY, took a bath and sat working on cookbooks and making my list for today. We're going to dig for those earrings in an hour or so -- I am SO excited and hope like crazy that we find them. His mom will just break down in a big messy cry if we do. Of course, she doesn't know we're looking either, so it'll be quite a surprise. Judd told me yesterday that she had already collected the insurance on them, but it has been probably 12 years since they were lost so I'm sure it's okay.

And we have a whole lot of running around to do after that: taking the books to be bound, getting fabric to recover the dining room chairs, getting the barn pictures framed, going to the mall (UGH!) to get ornaments for the nieces/nephews that we get every year, and then Judd said he wanted to put the Christmas tree up. I'm thinking what's the point at this late date? but he said he thinks we should. Oh well. I'll be cooking while he puts it up, then I'll help decorate.

That's it in a nutshell. It'll be late when I get back so have a super day, everybody!

Oh, and hopefully tonight I can catch up and respond to you all. I hate doing these quick fly-bys and not getting to see what everybody's up to, but we have to go.

You didn't tell us about the earrings, Kathy. I hope you find them since they sound like they'll be joyfully received.

Good morning all!

So we had a church potluck last night that I had forgotten about until yesterday, so I hadn't planned for it. I did pretty well eating-wise though, although I'm sure I could have done better. Tonight will be another challenge...dh's company Christmas party. Oh well, at least I don't drink, so I won't be tempted to consume extra calories there.

I'm losing my voice today...hope it gets better by next Sunday, since I have to sing in 2 different things then.

Kathy, I hope you manage to get everything done, and still keep your sanity. Vickie, I hope you feel better. Melissa, congrats on the new floor! I love my wood floors. They're so beautiful and "cleanable."

I hear my little one calling me..
later,
Angela

Hi All:

Kathy: I'm laughing at your saying it is late to put up the tree. I decided a few years ago that I really couldn't take so much "Christmas" and the tree and decorations rarely go up before the 15th. That is still 10 days away from THE day. I take the tree down before New Years and put a few white and silver things out for decorations and those stay up for a few days.

Of course, I can get away with this since the children immediately in my life here in Toronto have lots of others to make them nuts during the holidays!

I love the Christmas tree though. It's historically the "axis mundi"...representing the lower world, middle world and upper world...and is a relatively new tradition.

DH is back, safe and sound. Didn't get home until after 2AM after flight delays. Going to have as quiet a day as possible.

Rhonda

I meant "relatively new CHIRSTMAS tradition." It's a very old tradition to dance around the May Pole and have trees as central to other celebrations.

Rhonda

heybyou guys thanks for askin im gettin better a little at a time. no fever for 24 hrs so thats a big step.

hey sandie how ya doin? im guilkty my diet is terrible and im too sick to care. its on the bb til post holiday.

would you all be interested in a purely core challenge? (florebies welcome)

hi vickie and everyone else have a good day!

Hi there. I forgot to tell ya’ll about league Friday night. I did wind up being the only woman there, but guess what the topic of the evening was anyway? Weightloss! I had lost over 30 pounds since most of them had seen me, but I wasn’t the big surprise. One of the younger guys had lost over 60!! Everyone wanted to know how he’d done it. He told them he “ate right and exercised.” He looks amazing! I am so happy for him.

Vickie, you could use any sf/ff pudding mix to make the dream pies. What about using vanilla and adding some sliced bananas? I'm going to do some surfing later today to see what I can find. I remember a Snickers pie that I used to make. I think it would be good.

okay, i'm back to non-caps. i'm lazy.

rhonda, i'm glad dh is home safe. i hope he had a good trip. those delays are exhausting, aren't they? but knowing dh, he kept folks entertained. enjoy your day of rest.

andrea, i'm going to be very honest with you. i love challenges. everyone here knows how competitive i am. i would like to challenge myself to do better than i have been doing. (exercise, eating). i really don't want to compete against anyone else. if i lose, i might self-destruct. does that make sense?

i'm glad your fever is gone. i hope you finish mending soon. i don't blame you for putting program on the bb. we all need to do what is best for ourselves. that's what's great about ww.

kathy, we got our tree up and turned the radio to the all holiday music station. we're forcing ourselves to have spirit.

we're leaving in a few minutes to take some christmas goodies to the archery shop. can i start typing acm? (archery center of montana). i'm lazy and don't like to hit these keys more than necessary.

this afternoon i'm contacting the women's club (wc) to see if i can start coming in to do w a. my membership is officially on vacation till the 24th, but i need to move this body. i know. i know. i should hit more keys and move these fingers more for exercise, too.

have a good day.

Angela, have fun and rest your voice!

Rhonda, you remind me of my Sister/BIL. My Nephew's birthday is December 21st. They never put the tree up until after his birthday party because they didn't want his birthday to be over-shadowed by Christmas. So their tree never went up until December 22nd. I leave mine up until January 7th. Our tradition is to leave it up until "little christmas".

Sandra, Jim would LOVE banana cream. If you find a recipe for that in your travels, please share. You know I'm a recipe girl....I'm not too creative without one. It would be wonderful if you got back to water aerobics. Will you take me with?

I'm supposed to be cleaning but honestly, I'm not feeling too great. I just realized that I forgot to take my blood pressure medicine yesterday. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. Jim is at the grocery store. I'm just going to relax until after lunch and then I may go start some of the lighter cleaning upstairs. No scrubbing bathrooms for me today.

Hi everyone,
I haven't been on in a while, still sticking with WW bouncing up and down. I was down this week, but am expecting a gain because one of my knees is swollen. Spent the entire day in the ER on Friday and was sentenced to keeping my leg up for the weekend. We have our tree up and the wreath is on the door and a few presents under the tree. The kids will be with us this year. The girls are living with us and our son lives in the same county. I have to work Christmas Eve but have Christmas night off so will have dinner at suppertime.
Vivian

vickie, i hope you're feeling better. what are we going to do with you and curtis? he forgot to take his meds yesterday. i know neither of you does that often. thank goodness! we need both of you feeling 100%.

vivian, i'm sorry you got injured. bless your heart. this is a tough time of year to be laid up. well, i guess there isn't a good time of year for that, is there? congratulations on plugging away at weightloss. you're doing well.

here's the basic recipe for dream whip pie:

2 env. Dream Whip
2-3/4 cups cold milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 small instant puddings
1 graham cracker or chocolate wafer crust

Beat Dream Whip, 1 cup milk, and vanilla about 6 minutes, until stiff. Blend in pudding and remaining milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Spoon into crust. Chill 4 hours.

vickie, i'd say slice one banana (or maybe 2) into small pieces. then fold them into the mixture just before pouring it into the crust.

i'm still surfing but came up with these on my own:
use sf/ff chocolate fudge pud mixes
sprinkle crushed peppermint on top before chilling.

use cheesecake pud mixes
sprinkle crushed graham crax on top (maybe some no-sugar added pie filling into the crust before spooning the mixture on top)

you'd have to adjust points. the coconut dream pie is 8 servings for 4 pts each. you wouldn't have the coconut but would need to add pts for any addons. (unless they are core). if you're doing core, i think you'd just need to count the pts for the dream whip and pie shell. (but i'm not sure)

i'm not going to w a today afterall. i'll start that tomorrow. we stayed at acm about 3 hours today. that's enough exercise for me. wish i could take you to w a with me. we'd have a blast!!


i forgot to tell you the dream whip package has a basic recipe for dream pie and also for dream cake on the back.